Record controlled machine



Juiy ll, 1939. A 2,165,254

nac'oan cou'mommn means I Filed Kay 2, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 WWW - ATTORNE July 11, 1939. A. E. Gm

RECORD CONTROLLED MACHINE 4 sheets-sheet :5

Filed llay 2, 1934 LCL 1 an: L CL 610650 HERE CARD CYCLE sraP am s ITEM CARDS LCLI AND LCL3 OPENED #5775 8) STOP BJMLL OM05 LCLI 40a LCLB PENED 0m: aylfillcnkas Lil WHEN MAC/VINE l5 STOPPED CJRD FEED Arse-T arc/.5

r 0741. PRINTING I NVENTO ATTORNEY MIL/1939. I v,MEGMY 2,165,254

RECORD CONTROLLED MACflINE Filed Ma 2, 1954 4 Shaets-Shet 4 UCLI . V OR ATTORNEY Patented July 11", 1939 UNITED STATE nsconn oou'raounn momma Alvin s. cm, Binghamton, N. in, assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 2, 1934, Serial No. 723,463

ZCiaims.

This invention relates-to record controlled machines in-general.

The broad object of the invention is to increase the usefulness of record controlled machines and make them more flexible.

An object is to provide a flexible automatic numbering device.

Another object is to provide a numbering device which may be used to number totals or number bills on which items and totals are printed- An object is to provide a numbering device which 'may be controlled either by the automatic group control mechanism, a special card, a special designation in an item card, or by a stop card.

A further object is to provide a bill numbering device which can be used either to diiferently number each bill or number a group of bills alike.

. Various other objects, advantageaand features of the invention will be mentioned in thefollowing description and claims, or willbe apparent from a study of description, claims, and draw- In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a circuit diagram. I Hg. 2 is a verticalsection throughan accumulater and its top counter and multi-contact relay.

Fig. 3 is atop plan view of the accumulator top counter and multi-contact relay.

' Fig. 4'is a small scale view of certain operating connections for the multi-contact relay.

Pig. 5 is a vertical section through an emitter.

Fig. 6 is a reduced size section taken on the line 6-6 in Fig. 5.

Fig. '7 is a chart showing the timing of the machine.

Figs. 8, 9, and 10 illustrate wiring shown in Fig. i.

The present inventionwill, for convenience, be described with reference to an electrically controlled accounting and statistical machine now wellknown in'the art as the "International electric accounting machine. Its basic-principled operation is explained in numerous patents granted to Herman Hollerlth andothers which modiflcations oi the are familiar to those skilled in constructing record controlled accounting machines. The mechanical construction of the machine and the elec'trical' circuits are, in general, substantially the same as in Patents No. 1,822,594 and N0. 1,f762,145 which are merely representative. .lhe automatic group control mechanism may be the same in principle asthe one described in'Patent'No. 1,933,308; The

. ulatorisdescribed in Patent ua som'uo. Ref-"- mechan cal construction of the counter or accumand erence may be had to the above patents others named therein for an understanding of many of the general details of construction of the machine, description of which will be avoided hereinafter for sake of brevity. Where material diiierences may exist between the machines de- 5 scribed in the above patents and the parts of such machine involved herein, such differences will be briefly mentioned.

Certain cam actuated contacts will be mentioned herein from time to time These desigl0 nated by a letter L and a numeral s'ufilx are operated by the usual tabulating motor (not shown) and are active only when cards-are being fed past the analyzing brushes. Their cams make one revolution per card cycle- Other contacts desi nated by a letter P are operated by the cams driven by the usual resetting motor (not shown) and are active only during resetting and total f printing cycles. The latter cams make one revolution per total cycle. 4

The timing of these ntacts is shown in Fig. 7 where the heavy black nes indicate the duration of the contact of the respective cam contacts. The circuits for the tabulatlng motor and resetting motor have been omitted from the drawings, as they are not sufliciently involved in the present description to warrant showing them in the drawings. These circuits are fully described in the cited patents.

The machine is customarily equipped with five 80 accumulators only one .of which need be considered herein. The mechanical construction is illustrated in Fig. 2 andis substantially identical with the. one described in Patent N0. 1,307,740.

' Each accumulator wheel II is loosely mounted on I a shaft ll and-is'connected by gears I! to one element of a toothed clutch II the other element of such clutch being secured to a shaft ll. Shaft ll rotates constantly while cards are being fed past the usual analyzing brushes. when an 40 accumulator magnet CM is energized its armature i5 releases a clutch shifter i6 which causes wheels ll in each accumulator of which only eight have accumulator magnets CM, the ninth. being an overflow wheel controlling the machine only during total printing operations.

For sake of simplicity the present description will assume that only the first flve orders of any 5 H, TH, TI'H, signifying "units, tens, "huncosts only one row of elements 23- is provided bedreds, thousands, and "ten-thousands". Associated with each accumulatoris a readout device which controls the printing of totals.

-Rotatably mounted on a cross shaft I3 is a series of gears 20 each of which meshes with one of the gears I2. Insulatably secured to each gear 23 is a brush holder 2I having mounted therein, on opposite sides of shaft I 9, two brushes 22 adapted to wipe over a set of nine conducting elements 23 mounted in an arcuate segment 24 of insulating material fixed to the framework of the machine. Opposite each segment 24 is an arcuate conducting strip 25 'insulatably mounted in the framework. Thus as the brush holders 2I revolve in a counterclockwise direction brushes 22 will progressively connect the elements 23 to the conducting strips 25.

The driving ratio of the gears I2, 23 is such that for each full revolution of an accumulator wheel III its corresponding gear 20 will make a half revolution and during such movement one of the brushes 22 will touch an element 23 in each of the possible positions of accumulator wheel NI except the zero position ,(Fig. 2) where one of the brushes bears on the segment 24. In other words, for each value indicated by an accumulator wheel I0, except 0, a brush 2!) will rest on the element corresponding to such value. These values are indicated by the small numerals lto9inFigs.1to3.

All of the elements 23 of like value'are connected together by a bus bar 23a (Figs. 1 to 3). In order to save space and reduce manufacturing tween the units and tens denominational orders (U and T, ..Fig. 1), and the hundreds and thousands orders (H and TH, Fig. 1) and the segments of these two rows are made wide enough to accommodate the brushes 22 of the units and tens orders and hundreds and thousands orders, respectively, as shown in Fig. 1. The row of ele ments 23 associated with the highest order (in this case the ten-thousands order 'I'I'H, Fig. 1)

may only be wide enoughfor the brushes 22 of that order.

Each of the conducting strips 25 is connected to one of the spring contacts 26 of a multi-contact relay or switching device controlled by a magnet MR (Figsal to '3). Contacts 26 are insulatably mounted on a-bar 21 (Fig. 2) and are normally kept separated by a bar or rod 28 of insulating material carried by arms 23 secured to a shaft 30. The armature 31' of magnet MR.

has a latching projection normally engaging a notch in a latch lever 32 secured to shaft 30, a spring 33 attached to the armature 3| holding the latter in latching. engagement. A spring 34 attached to one arm of latch lever 32, nor mally tends to rock the bail formed by rod 23, arms 29, and shaft 30, in a counterclockwise direction to bring contacts 26 together but this is normally prevented by the latching projection on' armature 3 I.

in operating relation to print totals when a total" cycle takes place.

The multi-contact relay has contacts 261; which are normally touching when the parts are latched as in Fig. 2. Contacts 26a and magnet MR are in series with the zero button contacts ZBC and cam contacts P3 between line wires WI, W2; A switch N82 and the contacts A 01' zero button relay ZBB are connected so as to shunt contacts ZBC when said relay contacts and switch are both closed. The purpose and usual -mode of operation of zero button contacts ZBC are described in Patent No. 1,933,308 and, as they are not involved herein, they will not be described.

When magnet MB is energized, latch lever 32 is released and spring 3| rocks shaft 33 counterclockwise (Fig. 2) thus permitting contacts 26 to close and 26a to open. The parts are restored to latching position near the end of each total cycle by a cam 38 secured to shaft 39. -The latter is the usual resetting shaft which makes one revolution during the last half of each total printing and resetting cycle. Cam 33, near the end of such cycle,- rocks its follower 4' counterclockwise (Fig. 4) thus rocking clockwise an arm II secured to shaft 33, whereby rod 23. moves to the right (Fig. 2) far enough to reopen contacts 26, reclose contacts 261;, and relatch lever 32 by armature 3|. g

The usual upper analyzing brushes UB (Fig. 1) cooperate with a contact roll 'CRI which is connectedto line wire WI through contacts LI, while the lower brushes LB cooperatewith contact roll CR2 which is connected to line wire W2 through the usual impulse distributor ID and lower card lever contacts LCLI. The lower brushes LB can, as usual, be plugged to the printer magnets PM and/or accumulator magnets CM and for this purpose triple plug sockets 42 are provided. The upper brushes also can be plugged to certain control devices or to the automatic groupcontrol mechanism and for-this purpose plug sockets 43 are provided.

The automatic group control mechanism includes major and minor control relays MJ and MN, respectively, and-a group of controlrelays GCR. Usually from eight to sixteen of the relays GCR may be provided. Only five are shown for sake of simplicity'of description and to make the wiring diagram as small as possible. The mechanical construction of. the relays GCR is fully explained in Patent No. 1,822,594. It will suflice to state here that the coils of relays GCR are in series withcontacts 4'4 between plug sockets 45, 46 and when energized cause contacts 41 to close. The contacts "are reopened and contacts 44 reclosed together by means of cams during the last part of each card cycle as in the patent just mentioned. Contacts 41 are connected in series with the contacts A of minor control relay MN, the coil of said relay, the coil of zero button relay ZBR, a plug wire 48 and upper card lever contacts UCLI between line wires WI, W2. This constitutes the minor control circuit when the machine is feeding cards past the brushes UB, LB, and contacts UCLI are thus kept closed. Cam operated contacts L0 shunt the part of the minor control circuit including contacts 41 and UCLI except during a brief period in each card cycle (see Fig. '1) when these contacts open to ascertain the condition of contacts 41.

When the machine is feeding cards and contacts LCL2 are thus kept open, a major control circuitmay extend from line wire WI, contacts A of the major control relay MJ, the coil of said relay; one or more of contacts 41, according to the position of a plug wire 43 in plug sockets 50- between contacts 41; plug wire 48, and contacts UCLI, to line wire W2. Cam operated contacts L5, similar to contacts Ll, shunt all the contacts 41 to the right of plug wire 48 and contacts LCLI except for a brief period in each card cycle (Fig. '1) when contacts L5 open to test the condition-of-the last named contacts 41. 'It is plain that, if any of the contacts 41 to the left of plug wire 49 are open when contacts L5, L0 open, the minor controlcircuit will be interrupted but the 7 major control circuit will not be afiected. 0n the? other hand, if one or more contacts 41 to the right of plug wire 49 are open, irrespective of the condition of the others, both control circuits will 4 be interrupted since both can only be maintained through the contacts, 41 to the right of-plugQ,

wire 40.

It will be assumed that the machine is to operate under control of major group classification numbers not exceeding two digits and minor group classification numbers not exceeding three digits. Accordingly, the two plug sockets 45 to the right of plug wire 49 will be p ed to the upper brushes 03 corresponding to the two columns of the record cards in which the major group number is punched while the two plug sockets 46 to the right of plug wire 40 will be plugged to corresponding lower brushes LB sensing the columns in which the major group number is punched. The three plug sockets 45in the group to the left of the plug wire are plugged to the upper brushes sensing the columns of the cards in which the minor group number appears and the related three plug sockets 40 are plugged to the three lower brushes sensing the columns containing the minor group number.

This method of plugging places each of the relays GCR. in'series with one upper, brush UB and the corresponding lower brush LB so that,

if holes agree in value in the column sensed b any such pair of upper and lower brushes, the coil of the related relay GCR will be energized momentarily causing the contacts 41 of such relay to close. Thus, if the minor group number is the same on two successively fed'cards all the contacts 41 of the left-hand group will be closed and the opening of contacts L8 will have no effect on the circuit including minor relay MN; similarly if the major group number isthe same on two successive cards, allthe contacts 41 of the right hand group'will beclosedwhen'contacts L5 open and major relay MJ will'not be affected. a a I The contacts B of relays MN, are connected to line wire WI and to a wire WI leading to the usual reset magnet control and motor wire W2.

mechanism and corresponds in function relay 20 of Patent N0. 1,933,308.

After the cards'have been placed in the machine hopper and themain switch is closed to ing which cycle cam contacts P2 close'and reopen before cam contacts PI close (Fig. 7).

As a result only relay MN is energized over a circuit from line wire WI, contacts PI, coil of relay MN, relay ZBR, and contacts L0, to line This circuit can also extend through contacts L5 and lower card lever contacts LCL2 which are not opened until the first card from the hopper reaches the lower brushes UB. Relays RCR, MCR. remain energized however and the former has the eifect, as in Patent No. 1,933,308 of causing a second reset cycle to take place. Closure'of contacts A of relay MN establishes a holding circuit for said relay which cannot be broken except when contacts 'L0 open during a.

subsequent card feeding cycle. During the second reset cycle contacts P2 close and the major relayMJ is energized over a circuit from line wire WI, contacts A of relay MN, contacts P2, coil of relay MJ, and lower card lever contacts LCL2, which, as stated above, are not opened until the first card reaches the lower brushes, to line wire W2. This circuit can also extend through contacts L5 to line wire W2.

MJ during the second reset cycle causes deenergization of relays RCR and MCR. with the result. that thereset motor stops at .the' end of such cycle.

The tabulating motor'can now be started.

manually in the usual fashion and will drive the card feeding mechanism for twosuccessive cycles. During the first of these card feeding cycles contacts L5, L0 will open but will still have no effect as upper card lever contacts UCL2 do not open until the first card, fed during the first cycle,

arrives at the upper brushes at the end of the firstcycle and lower card lever contacts-LCL2 are 'still closed, the relays MN, MJ being kept energized by the current through contacts UCL2, LCL! When the second cycle commences to feed the second card to the upper brushes and the first card to the lower brushes, contacts UCLI, and UCL2 will be closed and open, respectively, but contacts LCLI, LCL2 will still be open and closed, respectively. During this second card cycle relay MJ will not be afiected when contacts L5 open as contacts LCL2 are still closed,. but the fact that contacts LCLI are open will prevent current from flowing through relays GCR by way of the upper and lower brushes over parallel circuits which normally would extend as follows: Line wire WI, cam contacts LI contact roll CRI, upper brushes UB, the plug wires from sockets 43 to sockets 45,

the coils oi relays GCR and their contacts 44, the plug wires between sockets 46 and 42, contact roll CR2ithe segments of the usual impulse distributor ID, card lever contacts LCLI when closed, to line wire W2. Thus the opening of contacts L5 has no effect but the opening of contacts L6 will cause deenergization of relay MN as all the contacts 4I, are open and the circuit. for relay MN such relay close and near the end of this cycle contacts L3 close and energize relay NR which tacts 41.

A third reset cycle is now initiated by closure of contacts B of relay MN which causes relay MCR to be energized to stop the tabulating motor and start the resetting motor as in Patent No. 1,933,308. By the end of the second card cycle the fisrt card will have arrived at the lower brushes thus closing contacts DCLI and opening contacts LCL2.

During the third reset cycle contacts Pi again energize relays MN exactly asydescribed above, deenergizing relays RCR and MCR. If, as has been assumed so far and as will be assumed hereinafter, the usual automatic restart switch is closed, the tabulating motor will restart at the end of the third reset cycle and the first card will be carried past the lower brushes U3 andthe data punched therein will be accumulated and/or printed in the usual way in accordance with the plugging of the counter magnets CM and printer magnets PM.

If in the course of the feeding of cards, the major group numbers disagree in two successive cards, one or both of the extreme right hand contacts 41 will fail to close and the opening of contacts L5, L6 will break the circuits of both relays MN, MJ, thus causing their contacts'B to close thereby energizing relay MCR which causes the tabulating motor to stop. Two successive reset cycles will be initiated automatically provided, as will be assumed hereinafter, the usual automatic reset switch isclosed. During these cycles totals are printed and accumulators reset as described in Patent No. 1,933,308, the relays MN, MJ reenergized, and the tabulating motor automatically restarted.

If a change occurs in the minor group numbers, one or more of the three left hand contacts 41 will have failed to close and while the opening of contacts L5 will have no eifect on relay MJ, the opening of contacts L6 will deenergize relay MN and its contacts B will close energizing relay MCR and .again causing the tabulating-motor to stop. A single reset cycle is then initiated automatically during which minor totals are printed, relay MN reenergized, and the tabulating motor automatically restarted. I

The major relay MJ has contacts 0 (Fig. 1) which may be used to control the numbering of bills, sheets, or totals. These contacts are in series with the coil of a numbering relay NR, a

switch NSI, and cam contacts L3, between line wires W1, W2. Contacts C of relay MJ are also in shunt with contacts A of relay NR. Contacts B of the relay NR are in a series circuit extendingv as follows: From a plug socket 5|, contacts B of relay NR, cam contacts L2, the impulse distributor 1D, and contacts LCLI, to line wire W2. Contacts L2 close at 1 in the cycle (Fig. 7) and if relay NR is' energized and plug socket 5i is connected by a plug wire to the plug socket 18 corresponding to the units order of an accumulator, a unit will be added on the units wheel I0 ofthe accumulator. Contacts L3 close shortly before the D, or stopping position, of the card' feeding mechanism, and open shortly before the 0 point in each card cycle (Fig. 7). When the major group number changes, causing relay MJ to become deenergized during the last card cycle of a major group, contacts C of remains energized while the two successive reset cycles already described are taking place. Relay must go through either contacts L6 or con-' NR is kept energized by the closure of its-contacts A which establish a holding circuit through the contacts L3. The latter remain closed during the 'total cycle since, as shown in Fig. 7, the contacts L3 are closed when card feeding stops. When the tabulating motor is restarted at the end of the second reset cycle to begin feeding the cards of the next major group, relay NR will still be energized, cam contacts L2 will close at "1" during the first card cycle of the new major group, and a unit will be added on the units wheel of 'the numbering accumulator. In other words,

an accumulator plugged to plug socket 5| for numbering purposes will count the number of major groups.

The amount standing on the accumulator used for numbering purposes is printed opposite major totals during the second reset cycle initiated as a consequence of a change in the major group number. The zero button relay ZBR is energized during the last part of' the first reset cycle initiated as a consequence of a change in the major group number and, in addition to controlling the major accumulators as in Patent No. 1,933,308 to print major totals and clear the major accumulators clom contacts A which are in series with a switch NS! between the zero button contacts ZBC of the accumulator used for numbering purposes, switch NS! being closed for numbering.

Totals are printed from the numbering accumulator bymeans of an emitter E shown in Figs. 1, ,5 and 6. The bus bars 230 of each accumulator are connected to elements 53 of the emitter E which are mounted in'an arcuate segment 54 of insulating material (Figs. 5 and 6) mounted on the framework of the machine, and the inner surface of segment 54 is concentric with a shaft 55 which is driven by the resetting motor one complete revolution during each resetting cycle. Cooperating with each row'of elements 53 is a brush 56 mounted in a brush holder 51 secured to shaft 55 but insulated therefrom. The hub of holder 51 is formed with a groove 58 in which bears a brush 59 carried by a brush holder 60.

insulatably mounted on the framework of the machine. 1

Brush holder 51 is so positioned on shaft. 55 that, as the type bars moveupwardly past the printing line in the usual way, the brush 55 will bear on the segment 53 corresponding in value to the type element about to reach the printing line. The values of the elements 53 corresponding to the type elements and bus bars 26 are indicated in Fig. 5 by the small numerals 1 to 9.

Cam contacts P3 (Fig. 1) close early in each resetting cycle and, provided contacts ZBC (or con tacts A of relay ZBR and switch N52) are closed,

a circuit will be established as follows, assuming the total 12345'is indicated by wheels III of the numbering accumulator. Line wire WI, contacts 26a, the coil of relay MR, contacts ZBC (or contacts A of relay ZBR and switch N82) and contacts P3, to line wire W2. Contacts 26 will then be closed, as described previously, thus connecting all the contact strips 25 of the numbering accumulator to the upper five printing magnets PM. One circuit is then set up as follows: When the brush 56 touches the "5" element 53, the 5" type element of the units printing type bar will be-approaching the printing line and current will flow from line wire WI, units printer magnet PM, units plug wire 35, units contact strip 25; the 5" element 23, upon which bears one of the brushes 22 associated, with the units order,

through said brushes 2!; the bus bar "leading to the 5" element 53, brush 56, brush holder '1, groove 58, brush 5!, wire W4, and contacts P3 to line wire W4. Energization of magnet,PM in the units position stops the type barwith the "5 element at the printing line. Similar circuits are subsequently established when brush it touches the 4", 3", 2" and "1" elements 53 thereby causing the ten, hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands type bars to be arrested with corresponding type elements in position to print. Thus, when the usual printing hammers are released later in the total cycle,-the total 12345 will be printed on the bill or work sheet inserted in the machine. I

If switch N82 is closed and the zero button contacts ZBC are in open position, as is the case when automatic resetting is not desired, the closure oi contacts A of relay ZBR prior to a major total cycle initiated as a consequence of a change in the major group number will cause =a total to be printed from the accumulator used for numbering purposesbut such accumulator will not be reset. As, through the agency oi. relay NR a unit is added to the numbering accumulator after each change in major group number, it is clear that the major totals will be numbered successively. When the major totals are printed at the end of a series of items on an inserted sheet, bill, or invoice, whether such sheet is inserted in the machine manually or automatically, it is evident that the sheets, bills, or invoices will be numbered consecutively.

It will be noted that the impulse which causes a unit to be added on the numbering accumulator must go through lower card lever contactsLCI i which close only when the first .card of the first group reaches the lowerbrushes. As the major control relay MJ remains deenergized only during the first reset cycle of the two necessary before feeding of the cards can be started and L2 can have no effect until after thesecond card cycle has come to an end and contacts LCLI have closed, it isplain that the first unit, necessary to number the totals of the first major group, will not be entered into the numbering accumulator until after the first major group hasbeen accumulated and the totals of the first major group printed. Consequently the numbering accumulator will not number the totals of the first major group but will number-"the totals ofth'e second major group 1.",- those of the third major group 2, and so on.-

This is obviously undesirable but can be easily avoided by the simple expedient of placing an unpunched card before thefirst card of the first major group. When this blank card passes the lower brushes-LB during the third card cycle, the absence of holes from such card will cause the deenergization of relay MN, MJ as all 0! the contacts 41 willremain open and two successive reset cycles will take place exactly as would be the case it the blank card and the one succeed- .ing such blank card belonged to two diflerent major groups. Since contacts LCLI are nowclosed a unit will be entered in the numbering accumulator when the first card having items punched therein (belonging to the first major group) passes the lower brushes during the fourth cycle. n

It may be desired to number minor totals on the bills but to have the unit added into the nunrbering accumulator only when the major group number changes. This will be iound useful where items of orders are classified'by merchandise dirz h i uj al'hshion so that all such ac'ctnnulators vision as where a concern may have several departmental warehouses and the invoices or hills are to be used as requisitions or stock orders to individual warehouses. As an example, assume that a large mail order store has its goods logical-' ly stored in warehouseaone for farm machinery, another for household furniture,- still another for cosmetics and drugs, andso on, and the separate items of a single order are each represented by a single card. The cards of each order are arranged in minor groups, each of which contains all items to be obtained from a single warehouse.

When the caids so grouped are run through the machine the minor totals are to be printed on separate sheets and the major total printed on the last sheet after the minor total. In this case contacts A of zero button relay ZBR will be changed so that these contacts will be opened by ,such relay instead of closed as. shown in Fig. 8. So far as the adding of a unit in the numbering accumulator and the preliminary cycles necessary to start the machine are concerned the operation will be identical. But, when the minor group number alone changes and relays MN, ZBR are deenergized, contacts A of the latter relay will close immediately, instead of opening as was formerly the case, with the result that the total- 'on the numbering accumulator will be printed during the single minor reset cycle ensuing. The same number will thus be printed opposite each minor total of a major group while, when the major group number changes and two successive reset cycles take place, the same number will also be printed during the first cycle opposite the minor total but will not be printed opposite the major total during the second cycle. The individual sheets on each of which one minor total appears can then be distributed to the warehouses or departments concerned forthe purpose of assembling the various items comprising an order.

, The various lots of goods can then be sent to the shipping department and there assembled, the sheets consolidated according to the numbers printed by the'numbering accumulator, checked, and sent with the shipment of goods. The invoice can then be shipped with the goods or mailed, whichever is the practice. The cards in such a system can be arranged by hand in major groups according to customer, as by customer number, order number, account number, or any other suitable means of identifying all the cards of a single order. The blank card must be placed at'the head of the first major group as before since only the result obtained by the operation of relay ZBR is changed. 7 u

It may sometimes be desired to difierently number minor totals as when the machine is equipped with a simple automatic control mechanism like that of Patent No. 1,822,594, or when control by major group numbers is not desired. For instance, if it were desired to control only in accordancemith minor group numbers, a switch ii (Fig.1) can be closed to shunt the two righthand contacts 41. Contacts-C will be closed by relay MN instead'oj relay MJ as in Fig. 9 'so that 65 the numbering accumulator will accumulate a unit after each minor total is printed, instead of only after changes in the major group number, and switch N82 1111 be connected directly in shunt with contacts ZBC, thuseliminating contacts A 70 of relay ZBR. The accumulators for the minor totalawill be manually clutched to the reset shaft;

inusewillbereseteachtimeatotalistaken. Thepreliminary cyclesntostartthema- 15 need not be used at the head of the first group because in the normal operation of the machine a single minor reset cycle usually precedes the sensing of the first card by the lower brushes. During this reset cycle relay MN will operate the contacts C formerly operated by relay MJ and the number relay NR will be energized. The switch N82 shunting contacts ZBC will cause a number to be printed opposite every total, and after'such total has beenprinted a unit will be accumulated in the numbering accumulator exactly as before.

Sometimes machines equipped with automatic group control mechanism are so arranged that all totals, both major and minor, are printed during a single cycle instead of during two or I more successive cycles. British Patent No. 339,953

corresponding to U. S. application Serial No. 473,960 filed August 8, 1930, now Patent No. 2,076,727, discloses a machine having this type of automatic control mechanism.

The camcontact's Pi, P2 are timed to closedzogether in this case and relay RC8. removed to get the desired result of non-successive totals. In order to properly control the usual zero button magnets on a change in the major group number, they are in series parallel with the contacts B of the zero button relay ZBR (Fig. 10) which relay is in series with the major control relay NJ as in Patent No. 2,076,727, the deenergization of the zero button relay, as a consequence of a in such machines, the only material changes necessaryinthe circuits ofFig. 1 beingtoremoverelayRCR,reversecontactsAofrelayZBRso that they will be opened when the relay'is energized, and place such relay in series with the major control relay. as in Fig. 10, so that the usual contacts of the zero button relay can be closed to control zero button magnets only during acycleinwhich amajor totalisprintedasin No. 2,076,727. With this arrangement a change in the minor group number alone will not affect relay ZBR and a number will be printed only on the same line as a major total.

There are sometimes cases where it may be desiredtowhollyor partlydispensewiththeuseof the automatic control and operate the machine under control of stop cards, total cards, or specially designated cards. 1 I

Accordingly, the present invention is adapted to number sheets or totals under control of special cards, such as total cards, stop cards, or blank cards, or under control of a special designation arbitrarily placed in one or more item cards of a group.

There is provided a number control relay N which is a double coil relay having two pairs of contacts A and B. One coil of-relay RC3 is connectedtolinewheWl andtoaplugsocketfl. The other coil of relay NCR is in series with its contacts A 'and cam contacts L4 between line wires WI, W2.- Contacts B of relay NCR are in series with switch NSI when the latter is in broken line position, between contacts A of relay NR. A blank cardcontrol relay BCR is connected in series with its contacts A- and cam contacts Ll between line wiresWL WL The coil of relay BCR. is also connected to a plug socket I through cam contacts L8; The contacts B and C of relay of the first major group.

'socket 43 corresponding to the upper brush sensa,1oc,as4, g

- BCR are adapted when closed by such relay to shunt contacts L5, LG. I

Itwillbe assumedthatinthiscase themachine is being controlled by the automatic group control mechanism in accordance with both major 5 and minor group numbers, as in the first mode of operation described herein, switch NSI is placed in broken line position, switch NS2 closed, and switch 6| opened. Blank cards having an "11 hole in a position corresponding to a column not punched in the item cards will be inserted at the head of each major group and an unpunched card inserted ahead of the 11" punched card The plug socket 62 is connected by a plug wire to the plug socket 42 corresponding to the lower brush LB which senses the column of the card in which the 11 hole appears. Plug socket 63- is connected by'a plug wire to the plug ing the column in which'the 11" hole appears. The accumulator used for numbering purposes is plugged -as'before. The operation will be as follows:

The preliminary cycles necessary to bring the firstcard (whichinthiscasehasnoholes) to the lower brushes will be the same as before, thatis, two successive major and minor reset cycles, two card feeding cycles, and a single minor reset cycle. During the third feeding cycle the "11" hole in the second card will be sensed by the properupper brush UB and a circuit will be established as follows: Line wire Wi, contacts Ll, contact roll CRI, the proper upper brush UB, the plug wire between plug sockets l3 and 83, contacts L8 (which are closed at 11" in the cycle, Fig. 7), coil of relay BCR, to line wire W2. Contacts A of relay BCR close and a holdlilg circuit of short duration is established for relay BCR through cam contacts L! (Fig. 7). This circuit is brokenfbefore the end of the third card feeding cycle. Since the second card having the 11 hole and the first card which precedes it have no group number holes none of the contacts I! would be closed during the third card feeding cycle and the opening of contacts L5, L6 would ordinarily deenergize relays MN, MJ. Closure of contacts B, C of relay BCR, however, shunts contacts L5, L6 at the time the latter open (Fig. 7) and keeps relays MN,,MJ energized so that card feeding continues; During the fourth cycle the third card; which is the first item card of the first major group, will pass the upper brushes while the second card with the "11" hole is passing the lower brushes. As this item card has no 11" hole, the absence of group number holes from the card having the "11" hole will cause two successive reset cycles to take place'exactly as if the major group number had changed and the machine willthere- This causes a circuit as follows: Line wire WI, coil of relay NCR, the plug wire between plug sockets 82 and 42, the lower brush LB sensin the "11 hole, contact roll CR2, the "11 segment of impulse distributor 1D, and contacts LCLI, to line wire W2. Contacts A of relay NCR. close and establish a holding circuit for this relay between line wires WI, W2 through contacts '14 and the lower coil of relay NCR. This cir- I cult is maintained until after the "0" position of the next'card cycle, which will be the fifth ing the two successive total cycles following the fourth card feeding cycle, relay NR is kept en- 'ergized by'a circuit through its own contacts A and contacts L3. No amounts have been accumulated so far since no item card has passed the lower brushes and since contacts 13 of relay NR were closed too late in the fourth cycle to permit a circuit to be established to the units order of the numbering accumulator by contacts L2. Consequently no totals will be printed between; the fourth and fifth card feeding cycles. During the fifth card cycle, the first item card passes the lower-brushes and-the items thereonare entered in the proper accumulators in the usual way. Also contacts L2 close during the fifth cycle and cause a unit to ,be accumulated in the numbering accumulator as explained hereinbefore. The tabulation of the first group of item cards thus begins with the fifth card feeding cycle.

When the next blank card having a .11 hole passes the upper and lower brushes the relays NCR. and BCR will operate as before but, as a unit has now been accumulated in the numbering accumulator as a result of the sensing of the card with the first "11" hole, the numbering accumulator will control type-barsto cause a l to be printed'opposite the major totals. The relay BCR thus prevents more than two successive reset cycles from taking place between groups when a blank card with a 11 hole passes the brushes.

The "11" hole can be placed in any item card of a group and blank cards need not be used.

In such a case the relay BCR is not plugged to the upper brush as it is not needed. As many control cards having a 11 hole as may be desired can be used in a group so that a number of separate sheets of a group. can be numbered differently. 7

One very useful result that can be obtained by running the machine under blank card control is that of numbering alike all sheets relatingto the same invoice. This is done by placing blank cards provided with an ll hole at the head of each, group of cards which relates to single invoice and dividing the groups into sub-groups by blank cards without such hole. Conveniently the unpunched cards can be spaced according to the item capacity of an invoice sheet, that is,

if a sheet has a maximum capacityof say ten.

lines of items, the last-named cards can be placed after every tenth item card. The unpunched blank cards will cause totals and a number to be printed at the end of each group of ten items which totals can be placed'on separate inserted sheets. The unit will be added into the numbering accumulator under control of .a ll'f punched card only at the end of a 'group relating to a single invoice. With this niode of operatio'n ten items will be placed on each sheet and all the sheets numbered alike which relate to a given invoice but the sheets of other invoices .will be numbered differently.

The 11"hole which controls the relay NCR. can be placed in a conventional stop card and the numbering of sheets, bills, or simple 'totals can be controlled by such cards without direct control by the group control mechanism which will be disabled. so far as control by classification holes is concerned, while the cards are being fed.v

'its contacts A also are It is desired to state here that it issometimes desired to operate the machine without using the automatic group control mechanism and obtain totalsby means of st0p cards placed at desired points in a batch.

when such operation is desired, switch BI is closed and a switch 84 is opened-as would be the case if the machine were operating under minor group control only. However, relays GCR are not plugged to any of the analyzing brushes. This. places the minor group control contacts 41, which remain open, in shunt with the cam operated contacts L6. However, due to closure of switch i l, the major control relay MJ will remain energized since the switch shunts the major control 'contacts 41, it being understood that the plug wire 49 remains as shown in Fig.

1. Under these circumstances, the machine will tend to stop and take a total-after .every card cycle since contactsLB openduring each card cycle. As will be pointed out hereinaftenthis will not normally take place, howeveryby reason of provision of means to .prevent it which is controlled by the .stop card. Stop cards have a long notch-cut out of one of the shorter edges which cause certain card lever contacts to open when such a card is fed past the [machine thereby stopping the machine. This mode of operation is well known'in the art and need not be described in detail herein.

In the present case the stop card is fed inverted. The relationship whichthe notch of the inverted stop-card bears to the upper lefthand corner of a conventional perforated item card fed in the normal way is shown in Fig. '7

by broken lines. The inverted stop cards modify machine operation to the extent of causing the card lever contacts LCLI, LCL3 to open at approximately the 2 point during the cycle in which the stop card is passing the lower brushes as indicated in Fig. '7. The stop card is provided with a hole in the space corresponding to the 11 position of a column of a record card fed in the usual way.

A stop card so punched is placed at' the end of each group and also at the beginning of the first group. Lower card lever contacts LCL3 and a .switch 65 are provided and such switch is closed when control by stop cards is desired. A card lever relay CLR and its contacts A are in series with cam operated contacts L9 between line wires WL W2. -Th coil of relay CLR and connected to the right hand brush of the impulse distributor. Switch NSI is placed in broken line position and switch N52 closed. The blank card relay BCR is not A stop card with .the 11 hole will have no effect when it passes the upper brushes as it is inverted. When such card passes the lower brushes the ll hole therein will cause relay NCR to be energizedto condition the'machine for adding a unit in the numbering accumulator.

The notch in the stop card will cause the various lower card lever contacts LCLI to LCLI to assume the condition they are in when cards are not present in the machine. As a result contacts LCLl and LCLS open at approximately the i2 point'in'the cycle and are reclosed between the 15th and 16th points of the same cycle bythe item card following the stop card.

It is desired to explain here that the card levers operate a'pair of contacts which usually control card lever relays instead of having the various card lever contacts operated directly by the card levers. In Fig. 1 the various card lever contacts are shown as if directly operated by the card levers in order to simplify the circuits and eliminate crossing wires as much as possible. The aids oi the card levers are flat and so proportioned that the card lever contacts close a short time before the card reaches the brushes and open a short time after the card passes from beneath the brushes. This accounts for the fact that the opening and closing points indicated in Fig. 7 donot correspond with the edges of the cards. The general shape of the card levers is illustrated in Fig. 10 of Patent No. 1,600,413.

In a 14-point cycle machine like that of said patent, the flat ends of the card lever are lo enough so that the'condition of the card lever contacts is unchanged by the gap between item cards but in 16-point machines to which the present invention has been arbitrarily applied, the gap between cards is so great that the condition of the card levers changes between item. cards. This condition, however, has no effect on the present invention, and it is possible to install the invention in 14-point cycle machines without changing the principle of operation in any respects, other than possible slight changes in timing.

Contacts LCLl will be open when contacts Li, L open-(seeFlg.'I)andrelayMNwil1bedeenergized exactly as if the machine were .operating in response to minor group classification numbers. Relay MJ will remain energized, however. as switch BI is clwed. Thus, after the stop card passes from imder the lower brushes, the feedingof cards will be stopped and ,a total cycle may be initiated manually or automatically according to whether the usual automatic reset switch is open or closed.

AscontactsLCLl areopenwhilethe stopcard' is at the 11" point in the cycle, the 11 hole therein would have no eflect on relay NCR. Relay CLR clow'its contacts A as. soon as any card, including a stop card, reaches the lower brushes. Contacts Ll close at 4" in the cycle and open after 12" so that the impulse of current at "11 which energizes relay NCR can reach said relay via contacts A of relay CLR and contacts L9 instead of through contacts LCLI which are open at the "11" point in a stop card cycle. After the total cycle initiated by the stop card has been completed, during which cycle the numbering accumulator controlled printing a number opposite. the minor totals, the feeding of cards is automatically resumed and during the first cardcycle of the new group a unit is added into such accumulator as previously described.

It will be appreciated that the invention is very flexible and can number bills, sheets, or totals in a variety oi ways. while the invention is.

useful for merely consecutively numbering totals on'a continuous work sheet fed in the usual way,

. it is of most value in a machine provided with an automatic bill feeding attachment where a bill is automatically inserted when a total is printed. A number of'such automatic bill-feed mechanisms have been-used and'are known in the art. As an illustration, this invention has been used in combination with the well known "International" automatic bill teed attachment for International" electric accounting machines.

. This attachment is now extensively used and forms the subject matter of application Serial No. 733,224, filed June 30, 1934 by Walter P.

Scharr, now Patent No. 2,046,001.

I The present invention, for convenience in explaining the basic principles thereof, has been described with reference to a specific form of embodiment and one type of machine well known in the art. It is very flexible, however, and may readily be adapted to other machines or modified in details without departing from the basic principles of construction described herein. It is desired, therefore, that the scope of the following claims be not limited to the specific embodiment or type oi machine described herein but be limited only by the prior art.

What is claimed is:

1. In a record controlled machine, automatic group control mechanism adapted to be split into several sections, including machine control elements each controlled by one .of said sections,

one of said elements initiating a minor total cycle and the other a major total cycle, an accumulator, and means controlled by one of said elements for causing a unit to be entered into the accumulator each time a by said element.

2. In amachine controlled by records identiiled by a plurality of classifications, each classification comprising a group number represented by group number designations placed in the records, accumulating mechanism including an accumulator for sheet numbering purposes, means to enter a unit in said accumulator, total takin mechanism'for the accumulating mechanism,

means to sense the group number designations in successively presented automatic group.

control mechanism controlled by the sensing means and responsive to changes in classificatotal cycle is initiated 

